


As Destinies Wander and Collide

by TheRagdollWrites



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, But hopefully done good, Canon Divergence - Star Wars Expanded Universe, Duel of the Fates, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Good verses Evil, Kylo Ren Angst, Moral Dilemmas, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rey Needs A Hug, Star Wars - Freeform, The Force, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRagdollWrites/pseuds/TheRagdollWrites
Summary: The truth behind the sudden death of the Supreme Leader has sent a rash of war spreading through the galaxy. Following the battle of Crait, the First Order set course for Coruscant, expecting to secure their power, but instead landed in a war-torn Capital they’d struggle to restrain.Unable to hide his secrets, a disgraced Kylo Ren disappears from the front line, a bounty on his head, and unwilling to trust anyone. As he finds himself facing greater darkness than he’d prepared for, his solitary flight proves unwise.Half a galaxy away, Rey feels alone and displaced amongst rebels, and the young self-taught Jedi seeks a new path, beyond ghosts and dusty books. The Skywalker legacy hangs in the balance, hoping for power great enough to heal three generations of damage...
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	As Destinies Wander and Collide

**Author's Note:**

> My own take on an alternative Episode IX. After seeing concept art from Duel of the Fates, I admit I was inspired… and I infused them with some of my own confections, as well as a heart of warm delicious Reylo.  
> I hope that in a parallel universe, we’re all living our best lives with an epic, uplifting, satisfying conclusion to the Sequel trilogy (and I’m a more organised wordsmith! This work has been chopped up and redone more times than I care to admit, but at last, I think I’m happy with it now, as imperfect as I’m sure it is)
> 
> This’ll be a wild ride. Buckle up.
> 
> (Additional tags to come)

Remarkably, the worst wounds Rey had suffered was just skinning her knuckles, too superficial to waste bacta on them. A bruise on her elbow, and a ripped scarf from when she’d disarmed her opponent and he’d grabbed at her in desperation. Rey didn’t really need to train to fight, not when she’d been beating up other Jakku heathens twice her size for long enough.

However, as Ryloth shrank away into the abyss behind the _Falcon’s_ hyperdrive, Rey didn’t want to speak to anyone. Rose and Kaydel and Finn all got growled at to give her some space, and Poe just needed a cold glare. And she was alone as she wanted, as she slumped next to the cockpit access entrance. She rubbed stiff fingers over the pink blotches on her other hand, pinching her skin too hard - another dumb small pain to add to the bruises, and the ache in her back from sitting awkwardly.

Her staff had suffered worse than she had, a small but worrying crack worming between two sections. She’d had no lightsaber to brandish, but the Force was with her, and perhaps she fought fiercer now she was defending not only herself, but someone who needed her.

“I saved your mother’s life today,” she murmured sullenly into the air, just in case anyone was listening, particularly him. He who seemed to pull on her no matter how many parsecs separated them. For perhaps the first time since the night in the mirror cave, she wanted him to hear her. She wanted to look him in the eye as she’d spit curses at him.

The Force rippled softly through the silence, and Rey noted Leia’s presence, even before she came into her eye-line.

“You could be my sworn shield, Rey. We can’t deny it anymore, we’re not safe no matter where we run, so I’d appreciate whatever protection I can get.”

She walked with a cane full time now, her gait slow and cautious. Her little silhouette stopped, and Rey could feel herself being watched. Leia was thankful, why wouldn’t she be? Rey could take a worse beating than this, while the General wasn’t even touched.

But Leia didn’t say anything more, which Rey was grateful for. If she wasn’t so sore and tired, Rey might want to speak about things; about her time with Luke, about the siege against the First Order fleet, and the more tender subject matter that she just couldn’t talk to anyone else about…

And yet, Leia didn’t need to hear Rey whining. She was grieving her brother, as well as everything else she was losing, despite how composed she was outwardly. So Rey kept the words inside.

Down the corridor, she heard someone - Poe, it was - poking around his belongings, and crack open a bottle, to pour small drinks for the remaining crew.

“Well. Here’s to surviving destruction and defeat.” he said before downing the little glass with a small gasp; Rey could hear the glug of the glass being refilled.

“We can’t give up.” Rose’s voice countered immediately.

“We’re not giving up. We’re just disbanding.” Finn was trying to sound assuring.

“What else can we do, when there’s like, forty people left from an army? We’re not an army anymore. Jess and Beaumont and a bunch of others wanted to go back and see their families, Bisc has flown out to the Capital, Snap wanted to fly his crew out to D’Qar in case there was anything to salvage, the General said she just wants to find somewhere out of the public eye.”

“Bisc is on Coruscant? What’s he doing?” Kaydel faintly asked; she must be on the other side of the room.

“Just observing. We could do with someone keeping an eye on our triumphant overlords.”

“But… they’ve made a mess of it, haven’t they?” Rose asked with slight incredulity.

“I don’t know! Should’ve asked him!” Poe practically laughed.

Rey had managed to haul herself up by this time, and she could peer into the main hold, seeing the crew looking weary, around the dejarik table, two glasses still untouched.

“Well, look at us. We’ve got nowhere to go home to, haven’t we?” Rose suddenly sounded the most miserable.

Finn wasn’t having it. “You guys are the closest thing to a family I think I’ve ever had. I’m going nowhere.”

“Exactly my point, darling. Even if we can’t fight anymore, we’ve managed to save each other. We gotta give ourselves credit for something.” She curled her arm around Finn’s, wanting to be comforted, and to comfort him at the same time.

“But who’s going to save… everyone else? All those people out there who could never take up arms themselves, who need people like us to fight for them? This can’t be the end for the Resistance.” Poe took a deep sigh, leaning his weight against the back of a chair; his voice seemed to have the weight of millions behind it.

“Once Leia’s in a safe place, we can think of something smart.”

“Like what?”

“I’ve got some ideas.”

“I want to leave too.” Rey let her voice be heard at last. Although every pair of eyes turned to her, nobody said anything, except Poe.

“Why?”

“I… I want to sort myself out for a bit.” she mumbled.

“What’s wrong? Is it because of Luke?”

“Yes. Yes it is. He showed me the Force, but there’s a lot I still don’t know. There’s a basket of old books over there that I want to absorb. And I want to do something about this.” Rey dug two broken pieces of a lightsaber out of her pockets. The dulled glint of a pale blue crystal squinted from within ragged, dangerous lips of ripped metal, and she could practically hear the silent distress in everyone’s brains. A battle scar unlike anything any of them would receive, that spoke of a power that she was bearing. Freshly tapped into, and she still had so much to learn about. The dark flip-side of her incredible ability to fling away a massive pile of heavy rocks to free them from entrapment.

“I’m not saying I don’t care about the fight. I just feel like... Luke wasn’t trying to save the day. He just let us have peace for just enough time to get away with our lives.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Poe bristled against what he had only just learned. “what are we gonna _do?_ I appreciate Leia wants no more dead heroes, but it’d be nice if we had a plan.”

“We don’t - ”

“I know we don’t have one. That’s what I’m annoyed about. And you can come with us and help us... if you wanted...”

“I do too. But I’ve got more important things to do.” Rey hugged the broken halves into her folded arms, holding her dejection to herself, while he sighed his out.

“We can drop you here,” Kaydel produced a holomap, zooming in on Vandor. “If you want to go to Yavin or something, there’ll be trading vessels.”

“Why can’t we actually take Rey somewhere and be sure she’s okay?” Finn asked, unimpressed.

“We have to stay quiet, Finn.” Rey didn’t want to be babied, not even by people she cared about. “I can move on my own, I can keep my head down. That’s what we need to do now.”

R2-D2 offered an assuring beep into the gloom of the captain’s quarters, as he absorbed each page of the sacred old books into his memory bank. Simultaneously, Rey had each book stream into a fresh hard drive. These books had existed for centuries, and weren’t fit for travel whatsoever. She needed to back them up, including a convenient means to take them along with her. Finn poked around storage that she couldn’t reach, attempting to make himself useful, but also something was chewing him up inside, that he’d carried for quite a while, and needed to get out of his system before she left.

“Rey… I wish I’d told you sooner… but I can feel it too. The Force.”

“You can?”

“Yes! I know it all happened really fast, but… well, it’s been happening ever since we first met. Rey, the Force brought us together, I believe that. It awakened in both of us when we got thrown into this… this journey. It woke up in me, as it did in you, right? I mean, you got out of Ren’s interrogation chair and past his guards all on your own.”

Rey let herself grin, despite her ache. “I outsmarted him, Finn. Which I’m just a little proud of, I’ll say. Even when Poe was saying it was too easy.”

“You reckon?”

“Well, he’s right. Poe doesn’t know the Force, and he’d been probed by Ren before, so he wouldn’t understand.”

“Then how did you do it?”

Rey felt her throat grow dry, smothering her voice. But, taking a look into her friend’s eyes, she couldn’t doubt his sincerity. “You trust me with your secret, I suppose it’d only be fair I trust you with mine.”

“How did you do it?” he asked again, gentler, eager for an answer.

“I threw it back at him. The Force had built some kind of bond between us, just for a moment. And it still stuck around for a few minutes, long enough for me to trick the trooper guarding me. Everything else was easy.” Her cracked tone almost sounded like a laugh, a sad laugh like she might mock Kylo if he could hear them.

The diameter of Finn’s eyes visibly widened. “You have a bond with Kylo Ren?”

She nodded.

“I gotta say… that explains a few things. Like why he didn’t kill you. If he could make you join him, he’d… could he use your power?”

“No he couldn’t. He can’t control my mind.”

“Right… so how does this bond work? Did he help you kill Snoke?”

Rey had no words. Just a soft growl, fighting against the knot in her throat.

“Alright. He’d had chances to kill you before, which he never took... so, what _does_ he want with you?”

“I don’t know. We can’t control each other - but we can’t hide how we really feel from each other. He’d _never_ admit it, Finn… but killing his father made him _weak_... and that was the only way I was able to cut half his face off. And those wounds in him just got deeper after what happened on Snoke’s ship. But… I can’t focus with him in the back of my mind… neither of us are strong enough to control this, Finn.”

”Oh, Rey... Leia wouldn’t want you to suffer like this.”

”No! I _have to leave_... if she needs to grieve her son, and her brother, and Han, then I have to let her!” Now she nearly had tears in her eyes.

“Hey, it’s alright. Don’t feel bad. You’ll feel better when you’re ready.”

Finn’s arm on her shoulder was a comfort, though she didn’t relax at his touch. Just let it sit there, unsure what to do.

“Thank you… but can I just ask, don’t say anything to Poe? Or anyone else?”

“I promise. I won’t breathe a word!”

“Good. You know, sometimes I wish I could sever it. I hate the thought of him forcing me to reveal all our secrets to the First Order.”

“Could you even get him to leave you alone?”

“Nope.”

Rey buckled as many provisions as she decided she needed into her satchel, and swapped her torn scarf for a new one, thick and soft and yellow as the sand dunes she didn’t miss. It shrouded her grey tunic and leggings, and could fold into a diaphanous cowl around her shoulders and hair. Perfect for letting her melt into a crowd at a station or a market town. Her staff slung over it, as much out of habit as anything else.

But before she descended the boarding ramp, Poe stuffed a heavy canvas purse of credits into her hands. “For emergencies,” he insisted, and judging by its weight, it likely held nearly three figures. Perhaps Poe thought it a big-brotherly thing to do, but she’d never had so much money before. The marvellous heavy jangle of it felt as alien as his too-hard farewell hug.

“I won’t be gone forever. I promise. Let me know where you settle.”

She studied the fine lines of Poe’s face in the moment afterwards, wishing he didn’t look so guilty. Unable to convince her to stay. Without the faintest clue what he was going to do with himself, with no battle to fight.

“Leia has this old friend that might have somewhere safe for us. You can come away with us. You’ll be safe. You can study, and fix your lightsaber, we’ll let you breathe. We need you… Leia needs you.”

“No. She needs me to leave. She’s not safe as long as I’m close to her.”

Poe blinked. He had no reply.

“I don’t know how to explain it… but I have to go.”

“Alright. Take care, Rey.”  
  


The next time the _Millennium Falcon’s_ rugged form appeared planetside, she was standing close to a wide balcony, conspicuous amongst polished durasteel and gilded trim. For the Black Milla complex was not built for military operations, but to protect those well-off enough to afford the place. The Kamino system had kept to itself for a long time, refusing to play an active part in politics; the moon of Koralev, terraformed and laden with modest floating cities, offered a sanctuary for anyone who wouldn’t bring the war with them.

A solitary figure came marching up the great sweeping stairs, cutting an elegant figure around the silvered gleam of morning sunlight, and the sight of the ship after what felt like forever earned a wistful smile. From the enamelled walking cane to the crimson silk cape, he presented himself as swashbuckling and fabulous as he did in his youth, even though years had slowly begun to catch up with Lando Calrissian.

Poe was promptly out to greet him, bursting out to the balcony with boyish excitement he simply couldn’t help.

Lando merely greeted him with a smoothness that betrayed very little. “Seeing the _Falcon_ being parked up here, I’ll admit a hell of a lot of great memories were coming back.”

Poe let himself be awed for a moment, reminded of the stories he’d delighted in hearing over and over as a boy. “General Calrissian, if you want to fly her into battle again, you’re totally welcome.”

“Oh no, kid. A fierce ship deserves a fierce pilot. You’re wasted on an X-wing… but she’s a scoundrel’s ship at heart. And from what I can see of you, you’re no scoundrel, I’m afraid to say.”

Ah, so Leia had meant it when she said Lando had heard all about these young geeks. It was Lando who’d suggested Leia come here, after all, and then he’d offered to fly to her, quite unexpectedly. But he wasn’t easy to refuse, and perhaps Leia would appreciate the company of an old friend.

“No, I know. General Organa was desperate to teach me some impulse control since the siege on Crait.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that going?”

Poe held his tongue. This place was no rebel base; it had been barely a month since the last stand, a battle in which the Resistance could’ve easily been annihilated, if not for the _Millennium Falcon_ spiriting the last few dozen survivors away, to search for a last bastion General Organa might take her cause to. For a short while she’d garnered support on Ryloth, and sheltered in an underground hideout, but her presence was never entirely welcome. And when someone betrayed her to the First Order, which resulted in the murders of several people - including the daughter of the Ambassador - the General, and her close circle, had to respect the fact that their time there would be short. As if that wasn’t enough, her health began to fail, almost certainly because of the assault on her cruiser - she was the only survivor of the attack on bridge of the _Raddus_ , and very few people knew she hadn’t completely recovered.

And there she was, perfectly fitting her surroundings. Her robes were ice-white and simple, her long hair loose to her waist, save for a sleek rope braided about her brow and falling across her shoulder. From her seat beside the windows, she watched Lando approaching with a cool, austere expression that wasn’t easy to interpret.

“I won’t lie, Leia… I’ve missed this princess as well.”

To their relief, she smiled, sunlight breaking through clouds. “I truly thought that you’d decided you’d never fly again.”

“I did too. For a little while. But, and don’t spare my feelings, but can you see me retired? Eating, drinking, dancing, gambling, sailing off on a yacht surrounded by beautiful ladies into the sunset?”

“Yes, Lando. Yes I can.”

Wearing his own dashing smile, Lando stepped up, and offered a hand to help Leia to her feet; Poe politely kept his distance, knowing he should give them a moment together.

Their embrace was warm, but restrained, and not just because they were out of practice. Both of them had been on very different journeys, only to parallel one another, with pains and losses they hadn’t prepared for. Knowing Lando didn’t possess a connection to the cosmos that she did, Leia had no problem in bridging that gap between them. It was one thing she could still do, for those she cared for.

“Lando, listen, I only see one real difference between us here: I just have a better clue of where my child is right now.”

His visage turned mournful, the pain he’d borne for so long coming to the surface. “I know what happened to her, Leia. I know about Company 77. I could try to track her down, but that wouldn’t guarantee I could save her. I’d just put myself in greater danger. And you.”

“Don’t say things like that to me.”

Still as sternly regal as she’d always been, he could see. How he’d missed that steel in her dark eyes.

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but… Lando, they want to make us feel like we can’t win, no matter what we do. And while we have hope, we can’t let them get to us. We must believe we can win. They’ve taken enough from us.”

“I know, my dear. It’s not over.”

“No, it’s not over at all. While I’m still here, and my son is still out there, somewhere. All I want now is for him to find the light, even though I don’t think I can keep up the fight anymore…”

Her poise slipped for the slightest moment; she’d only let it show to those who knew her best.

“You haven’t given up on him, Leia. I can see it in your eyes.”

“But have you given up on Jannah?”

Did Lando’s daughter still remember her own name? Even if she didn’t, the fact that there were those who did was a small hope.

“Leia, I - I would’ve…”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Well, we can’t go back and change what happened. I mean, do you think it’s too late now?”

“I hope not.”

The crack in Leia’s composure vanished as quickly as anything, and she became the capable leader Poe still venerated again. Effortlessly.

“I hate the thought of it being too late now. Not because there’s nobody I can trust - quite the opposite. But I want the people I trust to be safe. Yes, Poe, I know you’re listening. Don’t spy. You’re terrible at spying. Please come in.”

Oops. He hadn’t meant to be rude, but he wasn’t sure what else to do with himself, apart from stand and wait dutifully. The words exchanged by Leia and Lando weren’t meant for him, and he knew that.

“I trust you, very much. You’ve grown up quite a bit, Crait has proved that.”

“Alright… who’s Jannah, by the way?”

Lando said nothing, but Leia beckoned him to her corner. “Come sit with me. Let me tell you something important.”

Taking a seat opposite her, Poe squashed down his feeling profoundly humbled, and did his best to show her the soldier’s discipline he knew she wanted to see.

“When I was your age, I thought the Empire saw their troopers as disposable. A workforce they could just reproduce as they needed. And why wouldn’t I believe that? The first stormtroopers were made by cloning. And perhaps the First Order treat their own troopers the same way, but that was before I realised the Order made the children of the Alliance their hottest targets. On top of that, there’s a burden that I’ve had to bear more Han or Lando ever will…”

Poe had his own questions, but they’d have to come later. “Stormtroopers aren’t disposable. But we’re sure about that now, aren’t we?”

“Indeed, we are.”

“Then, what else are we fighting for?”

“Luke, for a start. What he did for us, and I don’t care if that made me look like a coward. There’s so much of the galaxy that just don’t understand what people like Luke, or Ben, or myself, feel in the universe. A great power that has been deeply misunderstood for decades.”

“But that doesn’t make you less of a great fighter and ruler - ”

Leia stopped him with a raised hand, her tone growing surprisingly chilled. “It does, Poe. I lost my son. I lost him long before he put on his mask, and I fear the next time I see his face might be when we identify his body after a disaster.”

Poe had never heard Leia speak about her son like this before. In fact, she barely spoke anything about him, he realised. And he suddenly wished the subject hadn’t been brought up at all.

“Do you want me to set up some kind of communication for Rey? Find somewhere for a bigger number of us to settle? Set up another base?”

“Our tactics are gonna have to change if we want to survive. I doubt anywhere would be safe for a big group of us. And I don’t have a problem with that at all. We’re less of a target scattered. And I know my son is in no fit state to pursue us right now… a Skywalker, alone in the universe, is something terrible. You do remember what I told you about my father?”

Of course, Leia wouldn’t let him let the matter go. Poe’s voice seemed to drop an octave as he replied, “Yes.”

The Black Milla was effectively designed as a hotel, not a rebel base: with a dozen comfortable suites and a large round penthouse walled with windows for admiring the horizon. On ground level, the lounge stretched wide and cavernous, dark walls accented with golden trims and thick plush upholstery, and masses of flowers that gave the place its name. Quiet shrouded the room, making the handful of occupants feel slightly lost. Tucked in the far corner, Rose took up a booth all by herself, with paper maps and holograms of notable Coruscant locations. She practically crouched over the table, surrounded by schematics, completely in her own world. Her table lamp glinted off Kaydel’s hair as she sat on the floor surfing idly on her own holopad, and the gilded top of the bar at which Finn curiously pored over the contents - not as fancy as Canto Bight, he had to admit.

Bleary-eyed, Rose padded up to the bar for a glass of something, and she frowned at Finn looking troubled. She could guess the reason why; it was preying on all of them.

“Why did she go?”

Finn scratched the bar surface, his fingers following the varnished swirls of ebony.

“I thought Rey wanted to be with us, Finn. I mean, look at what she did. She saved us, she protected the General, and, and...”

“She’s learning to be a Jedi. I guess she wants to have some time to herself. So she can concentrate on her stuff.”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean she had to leave us. This place is private. It’s just us here.”

“She wanted to go.”

“Fine. But, Finn... I think there’s something she hasn’t told us.”

“Like what? What would she be keeping from us?”

He sounded almost hostile, which Rose would take for the tiredness they all had their share of; from what she knew of Rey, she was still getting used to having other people around her, unlike Finn revelling in everything he’d been missing out on, and wondering why she didn’t keep up with him. Others wouldn’t notice when Finn might slope after Rey when she wanted to be alone, but Rose did.

Her glass clinked against her teeth as she sipped, partially hiding her expression. Their stay here would bring opportunities to clear the air with him, Rose was sure, as she shuffled back to her booth. However, all three of them sharpened up immediately at the sight of Leia approaching, firstly to introduce Lando to them, with mildly awkward courtesy.

Poe caught Chewbacca’s greeting purr in the background, and noticed Lando momentarily disappearing into the hulk of fur, delighted to see another old friend. However, amongst all the greetings, Leia quietly cast a look over Rose’s tableful of organised chaos.

“Is this the Jedi Temple ground level interior?” Leia lifted up one page in enquiry.

“Oh, yes, Bisc sent that one in. Apparently the Temple’s in ruin. Been untouched for years, especially since the end of the Clone War.”

“Apparently?”

Rose bit her lip. “Well, from what he’s seen… there’s a small rebel movement called the Heart of the City who’ve taken over the below-ground area of the Temple District. It’s become some kind of safe house while the Occupied zone covers over more and more of the District.”

“Go on.”

A lull came over the lounge. Rose fumbled through a sheaf of paper at the edge of the table, clearing her throat. “Erm, here’s the Temple underground… it can be locked from the inside, and the crypt hasn’t been touched, but they’ve sheltered… here, and this thing looks like some kind of gigantic comms emitter. But I’ve never seen anything like it before. If anyone had figured out how to make it work, they probably would’ve done by now.”

Leia studied the schematic with the faintest hint of a smile. “I know this.”

“You’ve seen it before?” Poe asked.

“Not myself. But Luke told me about this place. This beacon needs a Force-sensitive person to activate it. But this facility dates back hundreds of years, back to the time of the Old Republic, and every time the Temple above ground was rebuilt, this remained pristine. Back then, the Jedi used this as the epicentre of a communication system more powerful than anything the Empire would design, even centuries later.”

“And the First Order would know nothing about this!” Finn sounded unnecessarily excited, more than any of the others.

“Wait, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. The Temple sits right in the heart of Occupied territory. It’d be enough of a challenge just to get inside.”

“And the last Jedi can’t fight with us anymore.”

“Well, not yet, anyway.”

“One step at a time, please. We’re going to need a plan to get ourselves over the border safely.”

“And it’d better be worth the trouble.”

“It’d better be! General Organa’s distress call would do a much better job if it came from the Capital, than from a beaten-up deserted rebel base in the middle of nowhere, wouldn’t it?”

“I can’t disagree,” Leia said simply; her young crew all wordlessly vied for her consent, but Lando took her hand in his own.

“If I could, I would’ve been there. If I had a crew behind me, or had a ship fast enough. Hearing your voice would’ve been more than enough.”

She sighed, but carefully knelt down, to meet the level of the spherical droid shyly peering from behind Poe, beeping an anxious question.

“No, I absolutely trust you as much as everyone else in this room. Without you, my brother might’ve been lost forever, I have not forgotten.”

BB-8 started to play the holovid, Leia’s scratchy recording resonant around the suite. “Be patient. Be strong. Have faith. Fight back as and when and where you can. The First Order’s ambitions, the last resurrected traces of the Imperial war machine fall apart one gear, one gun, one battleship, one blockade, one stormtrooper at a time. The New Republic will return. And we want your help to finish the fight.”

After giving his droid an affectionate pet, Poe helped her back upright, to be faced with Leia’s faultless resolve once again.

“Now, Commander Dameron, you’ve got a victory to win, haven’t you? But before you can even think about actual combat, you’ll have to make do with stealth. We must have an army before we can think about returning to the front line.”


End file.
